Wag Tales

Wag Tales podcast is a series of conversations on all things trauma, healing, education and wellbeing.

Host of Wag Tales, Megan Corcoran is Director of Wagtail Institute, providing trauma-informed wellbeing consulting to schools and complex settings.

Megan believes in the power of storytelling and engaging in great conversations as a way to learn, grow, and take steps towards healing. In each episode, Megan invites a guest to share their story or to engage in a topical conversation to share best practice, new insights, and ideas to support those impacted by trauma to heal.

Megan is joined by a variety of guests including school principals, therapists, athletes, authors, artists, and lived experience practitioners.

Last refreshed: July 11th, 2025 at 11:09 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

#17: Kristy Elliott, restorative pathways to wellbeing

Kristy Elliott is a consultant leading the way in restorative practices in schools through her work with Restorative Pathways. Kristy is a wife, a parent, a lifelong teacher, and a lifelong learner who has dedicated her work to the wellbeing of students and staff in schools. Megan and Kristy met towards the end of 2022, while both working as external consultants on a project. They have had the pleasure of collaborating in various ways for the past twelve months, often bouncing ideas between them...

Nov 20, 2023•51 min

#16: Marie McLeod, "How to Thrive" in times of struggle

Marie McLeod is Founder of ThriveAbility and How to Thrive program, Creator of the BEACON framework™️, Mental health specialist, Keynote Speaker, Coach, and positive psychotherapist as seen in the "How to Thrive" film. Marie has been a social worker in child protection, juvenile justice, disability services, and neighbourhood renewal. Megan and Marie had not met prior to recording the podcast, despite realising a lot of their work history has some cross over. In the ‘How to Thrive' film, Marie t...

Oct 27, 2023•45 min

#15: Matthew Hartnett, wellbeing in the AFL and the importance of connection

Matthew Hartnett is an AFL Talent League Wellbeing Coordinator and a long-term teacher, with a passion for supporting those he interacts with to develop skills and resources for their mental health. Megan and Matt first met in 2018 while both studying their Masters in Applied Positive Psychology. Megan remembers Matt saying it was his dream to one day work for the AFL in a wellbeing role. Matt now gets to live this dream, working with under 18 AFL hopefuls on their wellbeing, through whole team ...

Oct 19, 2023•46 min

#14: Penny Netherwood, Compassionate Leeds, a trauma-informed city

Penny Netherwood joins us on the podcast all the way from Leeds in the UK. Leeds is currently working towards becoming a trauma-informed city, known as ‘Compassionate Leeds.' Penny is a consultant clinical psychologist and the health co-lead for the Compassionate Leeds project. Megan first came across the work happening in Leeds when some of Penny's colleagues attended a Wagtail Institute webinar. As soon as Megan heard about Compassionate Leeds, she knew she needed to learn as much as possible ...

Sep 27, 2023•50 min

#13: Mat Rad, mental health, movement and healthy masculinity

Mat Rad is “two feet and heartbeat”, using boxing as a vehicle to support mental health. Mat is a boxing coach and advocate for healthy masculinity, movement, and mental health. He coaches a variety of people, from high school groups, first time boxers, through to those competing in the sport. It is through boxing that Megan and Mat met, and both acknowledge the benefits of the sport on their own health and personal development. In this episode, Mat shares his own story of struggling with mental...

Sep 19, 2023•55 min

#12: Dr Tom Brunzell, trauma-informed practice meets positive education

Dr Tom Brunzell is the Director of Education at Berry Street and Honourary Fellow at the University of Melbourne Graduate School of Education. He has experience as a teacher, school leader, author, researcher, and education advisor. Tom and Megan first met 13 years ago when Tom arrived in Melbourne to begin working with Berry Street. Megan was a teacher with the Berry Street School at the time. In this episode, Tom shares how he started out as a teacher in The Bronx, New York, and then moved int...

Sep 05, 2023•44 min

#11: Michael Stainlay, all young people deserve an advocate

Michael Stainlay is a Transitions Advocate and Team Leader within a youth justice custodial setting. Michael has been a youth worker in alternative education settings for over 12 years, supporting some of the most vulnerable young people in Queensland and Victoria. He is passionate about holding high expectations of all young people and supporting them to reach their potential. In this episode, Michael shares his journey from retail into youth work and how leaders in his early career supported h...

Sep 01, 2023•1 hr 7 min

#10: Megan Corcoran, Willie Wagtails and the right to a magical childhood

Megan Corcoran is the Director of the Wagtail Institute (www.wagtailinstitute.com) and the host of the Wag Tales Podcast. The Wagtail Insitute provides trauma-informed wellbeing consulting to schools and complex settings to enhance trauma-informed practice and the wellbeing of these unique communties. Prior to her work with the Wagtail Institute, Megan spent 12 years teaching and leading in Alternative schools for young people who had experienced childhood trauma and signifcant disadvantage. Thi...

Aug 06, 2023•1 hr 1 min

#9: Tim Warwick, enabling agency for education equity

Tim Warwick is the founder of the Education Equity Alliance (https://www.educationequityalliance.com.au/), former teacher, school leader, and education project manager. Tim left his school leadership roles with a deep passion around enabling agency of all education stakeholders for education equity. Tim and Megan met in late 2022 and have been diving into big discssions around the education system (like this podcast episode) ever since. In this episode, Tim explains the role of the alliance and ...

Jul 27, 2023•49 min

#8: Motley, healing through hip hop

(Joe) Motley is a hip hop artist, workshop facilitator, parent and lifelong learner. Motley has been providing hip hop workshops to schools and young people in youth settings for over 20 years, supporting young people to express themselves through writing and recording raps. Megan and Motley met and developed a friendship in 2011 when they were both working at the same Alternative school. Their professional paths continued to cross as they worked in different schools in the Alternative sector. I...

Jul 13, 2023•54 min

#7: Kit Wisdom, humanising health care and learning environments

Kit Wisdom from Wise (https://www.wisephysiotherapy.com.au/) is a physiotherapist training in hakomi mindful somatic psychotherapy. Kit is committed to providing healthcare with humanity, recognising the full experience of the human being and the mind body connection. She brings a curious lens to how learning environments can also cultivate a more human approach through developing safety and recognising our physiological experiences. In this episode, Kit shares her experience of learning and exp...

Jul 11, 2023•54 min

#5: Perri Broadbent-Hogan, finding joy in trauma-informed education

Perri Broadbent-Hogan is the Co-Principal at MacKillop Education in Geelong, working alongside young people who have experienced trauma and are engaging in alternative education. Perri is an incredibly passionate and fierce leader, dedicating her career to providing the best possible education to young people. She is constantly learning and upskilling in order to improve the outcomes for her students. Megan and Perri worked together in the leadership team at Australia's largest alternative schoo...

Jun 22, 2023•54 min

#4: Graeme Baird, the importance of mentors

Graeme Baird is psychologist who has dedicated his career to supporting vulnerable and traumatised people through both private practice and through work with the public sector. A lot of Graeme's work has been with young people in the out of home care system and he has supported and trained staff working in these settings and in alternative schools. It was through this work, that Graeme and Megan met back in 2011. In this episode, Megan explains that it was Graeme's mentorship that helped her sur...

Jun 10, 2023•50 min

#3: Roz Rimes, animal assisted wellbeing

Roz Rimes is the Founder of the social enterprise, Live With Zest (www.livewithzest.com.au). She is a wellbeing educator, speaker and coach, working alongside her 2 Labradoodles to enhance wellbeing for young people and clients. Roz is a proud wife and mother, a MAPPster (Masters of Applied Positive Psychology Alum) and a lifelong learner! In this episode, Roz shares her journey into the work of animal assisted wellbeing and the science behind why it works. Megan and Roz share stories of working...

May 23, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 3

#2: Shayne Hood, wounds and wisdom

Shayne Hood is the Director of Wounds and Wisdom (https://www.woundsandwisdom.life/). He is a lived experience practitioner and consultant in the youth and social work sectors, he is a proud father and husband, a lifelong learner and a student of boxing. Shayne uses self-determination theory to guide his work and the way he approaches his own life. He provides coaching and resilience training to youth, social and community settings. In this episode, Shayne shares his journey out of a violent and...

May 11, 2023•1 hr 3 min

#1: Ronen Shoshan, the transformative power of music therapy

Ronen Shoshan is the Director of the Mind Tune Institute (www.mindtuneinstitute.com.au). He is a counsellor, music therapist, student of psychology, father of 2 and a lifelong musician. Ronen provides music therapy to 1:1 counselling clients and to groups of primary and secondary school students. Ronen shares the transformation his clients experience through the process. He also trains teachers and service providers on how to implement music therapy into their settings. He shares with us where m...

May 03, 2023•42 min

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